Amuzgo - Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities.
Nowadays the economy of Amuzgo communities is based on agriculture. The
main cultigen is maize, the foodstuff that forms the basis of the
indigenous population's daily diet. Beans, squashes, chilies,
cacao, coffee, various fruits, and poultry complement the indigenous
diet.
Panela
(raw-sugar loaves) and
aguardiente
(white rum) are made from sugarcane, which is still pressed in the
animal-powered sugar presses introduced during the colonial era. Given
the area's soil quality and the hilly nature of the land, the
system of agriculture is slash and burn. Implements include the machete,
tarecua
(a weeding tool),
coa
(native spade), and
enduyo
(a planting tool). The amount of seed sown is measured in
maquillas
(units of weight) or
cajones
(boxes). Only very few indigenous families can afford to maintain
cattle. The Amuzgo complement crop and livestock production by producing
handicrafts, mainly weaving and embroidery.

Trade.
Indigenous products formerly played a major part in commercial
exchange, but, in the hands of the mestizo population, trade has turned
toward modern goods and increasingly less toward local handicrafts.
Commercial activity increases during the festivities in the various
pueblos of the area, but the majority of the merchants who come to sell
at the fairs are from outside the area.

Migration.
There has been a rapid increase in migration. The migratory flow is
within the surrounding area, to the capital, to nearby cities, to Mexico
City, and to the United States.

Division of Labor.
Men generally work in the fields, and women in the home; however, in
some cases women help the men with agricultural labor or tending herds
and flocks. Handicrafts generally fall within the domain of women.

Land Tenure.
In Amuzgo communities, landownership is in the form of
ejidos
(federal land grants to peasant farmers), communal lands, and
smallholdings. Landownership has been a constant struggle for the
Amuzgo, as they have had to contend with mestizos recurrently buying up
land. Given the system of slash-and-burn cultivation, it is necessary
for plots of land to lie fallow. Access to ejido and communal land
guarantees the use of
monte
(hillside land) for planting, pasture, gathering, and hunting. Private
property is mainly in the form of encierros—fenced plots of land
wherein cattle are grazed—and cultivated land, which only the
owner can use.

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